Submit your photos for the music stage

Get your photos in front of a live music audience. I'm a experimenting Folk/Rock artist actively performing in and around Bend, Oregon. I have recently expanded my live performance to include a projector screen behind me displaying cool photos submitted to a Flikr group.

This is a collaborative effort. If you join I'll send out a call for themed photos such as: Driving, things in orange or water. Each photo will have 5 seconds of screenplay.

The plan is to eventually have a colorful montage for a 2 hour show. That'd take 1440 pictures. A long way to go.

If you think your photo would look cool on stage and you don't mind if I use it, please submit it!

All you need to do is create a flikr account, upload your photos, then join the group and send photo to the group. The the photo will end up on the stage

Video canvas kicks butt

Our gig last night at M & J tavern went well. As expected the turnout was very light. I'm guessing that the day after labor day most people were laying low.

I brought in the video canvas for its first voyage. The bar was a little wierded out when I was constructing it. Chris brought the DVD/vcr player and I played the first video "how to square dance." It was friggin hillarious. You know how decked out square dancers get. They seemed to fit perftectly on the canvases and it looked like they were dancing to the guitar beat. I then shifted it over to a Ren and Stimpy cartoon.

We sounded good, but you could tell that Chris and I are not as tight as we use to be. We haven't practiced forever. We've mainly linked up for open mics and practicing live.

The show ended a little after 11. Mike and CJ (Bar owner and bartender) both suggested that I personalize the video, making a photo mantage of my family, friends and different things important to me. I think that's a great idea, music is a form of personal expression and the photos would only make the songs richer.

Show tonight at M & J

My project I share with Chris Evans, Kousefly, has a gig tonight at M & J Tavern. We are pulling out all stops. I'm going to bring my video canvas wall that I made last month and we are going to play random video behind us. I've got a tarantula video an old Russian documentary and a How-to square dance video. Chris is going to bring his psychedelic soup video.

I'm glad to be stepping into the multi-media world of performing. Hope to see you there.

Broken Grill

I'm severely bummed. Earlier in the month I went to the dentist in pain to learn that I had fractured a tooth all the way down to the root. Today I had to have it pulled.

I was having a hard time discovering my vocals before, now i have to do it with either a major hole in my grill or with a partial that could effect my speech. I can't afford an implant tooth.

This is a crappy situation all the way around. This might force me to be an instrumentalist. Who knows? That might be the right direction for my music drive anyway.

Sad day.

Great WILCO show

Both my wife and I really enjoyed the show last night at Les Schwab Amphitheater. Fleet Foxxxxes opened up and they were really good. I enjoy their 4 part harmonies. Their music is really deep and textured and it was really cool to see them do it live.

WILCO did a great job. The weather was perfect. The band gets better and better every time I see them. My favorite tune was "I'm trying to break your heart."

Jeff Tweedy got to play his Breedlove guitar(s) on the land of their creation (how many does he have???).

I was surprised to see how many thousands of people filled the amphitheater when we were leaving after WILCO's second encore.

Great show. The band has been and continues to be a huge inspiration to me.

Great interpretation of melody

I've been granting Creative Commons rights to some of my music and was happy to hear a really cool interpretation to my melody I play in Around the Bend.

Check it out!

One Sided Love Affair by radiotimes 

Huge Honor

I've been asked to perform the theme song for the United Way of Deschutes County's campaign kick-off on September 11th.

What is really cool about this story is a young band from Sisters, some in high school and some not, created the song for the United Way last year. They got together and wrote the lyrics on a lunch bag and put together a folky theme song.

They were originally going to perform the song but the lead singer is leaving and the others can't make it. The opportunity came my direction and I'm now collaborating with them.

We met last night and I am really excited to learn that they want me to take the song in any direction I want. They thought it was pretty cool that I'm covering the song they created.

I'm going to produce the song this weekend.

Sounds like my name

I was listening to Woxy this morning and I heard, "and that one comes from Port O'Brien. Even though I shouldn't be I was a little peeved that the name I came up with for my music project, Portside Brian, is very similar.

Reminds me on how my other project, Kousefly, is also very similar to a touring band's name, Kaddisfly. Funny thing is we opened for that band.

I guess that's a good thought considering Port O'Brien is a nationally touring act.

From Vision to Reality

So I put together my video wall! It is made of PVC pipes and various fittings, a metal bar, two wood blocks for stands and some old canvases.

Here are the photos of the end result. I think I need a couple more canvases. Should turn out pretty cool.

Video Wall

Most of my stuff for performing comes from Home Depot, Lowes or the pawn shop. My current project is to make a video wall behind me. I was really inspired by a show I did with The Dirty Words at Players off of Century Drive.

They had a projector and a stretch screen. They also has a toggle switcher that went from one VCR to another.. They played movies like Mad Max and a variety of other Si-Fi movies.

Here's a video of what I'm talking about:




I want to replicate it for my show, but change it up a bit.

I've got a projector but I was a little stuck on what I want to project it on. I came up with a cool/artistic way would be to hang painting canvases off of each other with big gaps separating them. The image, let's say a close up of a spider, would project onto the separate canvases.

Cool idea, but wondering now how I'm going to hang these up. I'm thinking black pvc pipe

Great open Jam night at M & J

I'm still buzzing with excitement from Wednesday night's open mic at M & J. I arrived about 9 and there was a group doing improv sessions. When they were finished I set up my gear while they packed up. They were a little amazed by my set up. I got it so I can have my two ams, pedal board and guitar ready to go under five minutes.

Unfrotunately they didn't want to leave and this woman wanted to play the hand rum with my set. I really didn't have a choice but to say yes. Can't say that I'm particularity happy with my set. The drums were all over the place and some guy wanted to improve lyrics over me, oh well.

BUT... when I packed up my gear I unpocketed my harmonica and let loose with the next player. A more experience hand drummer joined the mix and like magic we were a three-piece Roots/blues band, entertaining away for at least and hour.

People loved it. I sat down after the set when the next band, this one with a bass guitar, acoustic guitar, female lead and a full set of congos, invited me to play harmonica with them. 45 minutes later I left the stage.

I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of live improv jams.

At The Summit

Last night went very well, aside the moving of the gear. For a Monday, the place had a very good crowd. I parked in the alleyway and packed in my gear through the back door upstairs to the stage. I've realized that for one guy I've got a lot of gear. Two guitar amplifiers (one for acoustic and the other for electric), a big pedal board, speaker stands and the small PA... uhhg. I set it up on the stage to learn afterward that they wanted me on the balcony next to the bar.

But it is definitely worth the lugging after I get the gear set up. People are a little surprised by the sound that I've been working on. CJ, a bartender at M & J Tavern, complimented my sound saying "you know when people like it when they keep on ordering more drinks and not pack up to leave."

After hearing that POV, I'm satisfied when I see a person order a drink even if they don't clap.

I played for an hour then took a break to grab a beer. I came back and played my second set and was approached by Ed, the whistler, to whistle in one of my tunes. I gladly accepted and created an acoustic loop... sounded real cool. Cool enough to end the whole show with another loop. i think we are on to something! It sounds like a twisted, psychedelic spaghetti western. you gotta hear it.

I'm live tonight at The Summit

Got a last minute gig for tonight. Absolutely no promotion, but this is a good time for me to show the folks at The Summit what I'm about.

Wish me luck

Remix of Amnesia

I recorded a clean track of one of the songs I'm composing. I was delighted to hear a few of my strumming notes coming back in a new form... check it out!

Singing with the Buffalos

I had a great time performing at the Pine Mountain Buffalo Ranch yesterday for the Friends and Family Farmer's Market. I packed up my gear, my amp, acoustic guitar, harmonica, looper and an extra speaker and set it up at the beer garden under a tent that was waiting for me.

There was a bunched up bundle of extension chords that I had to stretch out around a horse corral to get juice. Once I got everything set up I played a warm up song to check the sound levels and eq.
It was a warm and partly sunny day with a lot of families walking around, petting animals and checking out the vendor booths. I played half of my set and sat down to chat with my wife who I was excited to see come with her friend Dianne and Peanut (Dianne's daughter).

Most artist have an hour set, as I do, but I was the only performer and I was asked to be there for a few hours. I ended up playing my set over again, although I was really self-conscious about doing it. The beer garden people didn't mind. People like to drink in the sun with music. I wrapped it up by playing some songs without vocals... background music.

By the end of my playing my fingers were good and sore and everyone I talked to really enjoyed my music. I really enjoyed it and plan on doing more festivals.